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In my book you can roughly divide board game players into two different types.
I like to compare us to runners, where you have the typical sprinter type, and the hardy long-distance specialists.

In board game terminology, the sprinters (like myself) enjoy shorter games (1-2h) with fast and furious game mechanics – where mistakes are instantly penalized by defeat.
There is a lot of boardgames out there, that suit this specific type of player – but for some reason we are often argued by the “other side” as being less skilled board gamers…
“It´s just plain luck, half the time”, is the typical statement.

The “other side” is the long-distance players, who enjoy the slowly developing marathon games (3-4h+) where you will need to plan seriously ahead and then roll out your strategy through hours of play – before ultimately claiming your victory. For these guys a board game, with less than 3 hours of play-time is considered a kids game.
This kind of game allows so much more detailed and varied gameplay, with loads more options; allowing the game to have incredible depth and complexity.

Even if I understand the argument that one 8h game win is much more valuable than 8 x 1h wins – I dont think one type of player is superior to the other.
You have to grasp a much bigger picture, yes, and understand much deeper mechanics – but it´s more a question of taste than skills, in my oppinion.

The reason why I am not a very good “long-distance” player, is that I hate the mere risk of sitting 3-4 hours in a game you know you have already lost.
I mean honestly; that´s a bit of a drag.
Also, these guys are somewhat connected to the reason board games has a bit of a geeky reputation in the public eye (no offense intended).

For me, a true board game champion can really enjoy and master both types; and I have yet to meet such a player.
– A long-distance sprinter? Now that would be board gaming like a boss.

I used to wake up at night believing my wife was a zombie. This came as a consequence of countless hours of playing the zombie-mode of COD Black Ops. Obviously my obsession with killing zombies had taken new dimensions and I eventually decided to take a break – I figured this was the right thing to do in order to avoid waking up next to a strangled wife one day. I have now been clean for 5 months. However, Last night I supposedly cried out BOARD4LIFE (name of our board game club) in my sleep. Normally I would interpret this as a sign that things are starting to get out of control. But seriously, I am not going cold turkey this time. I choose to see my nightly outbursts as a symbol of high dedication and nothing more. I hope I am not alone on this.